Major European countries stop AstraZeneca vaccine

Germany, Spain, France and Italy suspended the application of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine on Monday after reporting that some people were suffering from blood clots, although the pharmaceutical company and the European regulator insisted that such a reaction had nothing to do with injections.

Germany’s health minister reported that the decision was taken before the country’s vaccine regulator board, which asked to investigate that seven people who received the inoculation were suffering from blood clots in the brain.

“Today’s decision is just a precaution,” said Minister Jens Spahn.

Meanwhile, the Italian regulatory agency has also announced that the application of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be temporarily suspended in that country due to reports of clots.

The decision “was taken in coordination with similar measures adopted by other European countries,” said the Italian agency, known as Aifa.

He added that “we are investigating the matter in more depth.” The announcement came a day after a person died in Italy shortly after receiving the vaccine. It was a 57-year-old clarinet teacher in the northern Piedmont region received the vaccine on Saturday and died on Sunday.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that France will also temporarily suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

At a press conference on Monday, Macron said the suspension would last at least until Tuesday afternoon, when the European Medicines Agency issues its recommendations. He did not give details of the decision but assured that France hopes to be able to resume the use of this inoculation “soon”.

For her part, the top scientist from the World Health Organization on Monday recommended that countries continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine for the time being despite concerns about clots in some people who have received it.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan said officials at the United Nations health agency “don’t want people to panic”, although the use of the vaccine is being closely monitored.

Swaminathan noted that around 300 million doses of various coronavirus vaccines have been given to people around the world and “there are no documented deaths that have been linked to a Covid-19 vaccine.”

He said the rates of blood clots in people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine “are actually lower than one would expect in the general population.”

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